Ballouchy, a former Palo Alto-Gunn High and Santa Clara University star, played in only five games this season while recovering from a left knee ligament tear near the end of last season. The Moroccan midfielder has appeared in just 11 games since arriving in San Jose last summer in a trade with the New York Red Bulls.

The Quakes (9-10-7) will face the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at StubHub Center in Carson without three suspended players, including midfielder Rafael Baca. Ballouchy would have been a promising replacement in center midfield had he been healthy.

Elliott Almond is a reporter for the Bay Area News Group who has covered 11 Olympics, follows soccer and writes about social issues in sports such as concussions. Almond previously worked at the Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times as an investigative sports reporter and has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize three times. An author of a book on surfing, Almond spent a good portion of his youth travelling the California and Baja California coastlines searching for the perfect wave. He now can be found among towering coast redwoods in remote NorCal forests.